Olivia Carter Completes Michigan’s Butterfly Sweep With 200 NCAA Title

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 20: Olivia Carter of the Michigan Wolverines swims to victory in the 200 Yard Butterfly during the Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on March 20, 2021 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Mike Comer/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Much like the rest of the winners tonight, Michigan’s Olivia Carter threw down an impressive back half to win the NCAA title in the 200 butterfly as her win complements her junior teammate Maggie MacNeil’s win in the 100 butterfly last night.

Carter won with a 1:51.33, completely dominating the field on the back half, out splitting everyone on the third and fourth 50’s to win by a second and a half over Texas freshman Olivia Bray (1:52.87). Carter is now 11th all-time with her time as the Greensboro native won in her home pool.

“It is absolutely amazing to win in my home pool. It is definitely a dream come true. I wish there could be a home crowd for me to celebrate with but it felt like I was right at home,” Olivia Carter said after the race. “The last day has always wanted to be one of my best days. Going off of Maggie’s win, it gave me a lot of energy to push through.”

Bray took it out first at the halfway point at 53.08 as she was leading a 1-2-4 with Longhorn teammates Kelly Pash (53.29) and freshman Emma Sticklen (53.70), with Carter splitting the trio at 53.60. Then Carter threw down a 28.3 split as no one else broke 29 seconds and was clear sailing on the final 50.

Texas was hoping to gather as many points as possible in the pursuit of a top two finish with NC State currently holding that spot at the moment, as Bray was second, Pash was fourth at 1:53.42, and Sticklen was seventh at 1:54.09. Texas is now 23.5 points behind NC State with just the platform diving event and 400 free relay left.

Georgia’s Dakota Luther, who was the top seed heading into the meet in this event, finished in third at 1:53.01 while Texas A&M’s Taylor Pike tied Pash for fourth at 1:53.42.

Virginia’s Abby Harter (1:53.86) and Kentucky’s Izzy Gati (1:54.35) also swam in the championship final.

Olivia Carter’s title is Michigan’s first ever NCAA title in the 200 butterfly and the first for the Big Ten Conference.

Listen to Carter’s interview below with teammate Maggie MacNeil.

 Event 19  Women 200 Yard Butterfly
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:49.51  2/24/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
         Meet: M 1:50.01  3/17/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
     American: A 1:49.51  2/24/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
      US Open: O 1:49.51  2/24/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
         Pool: P 1:51.11  3/21/2015 Kelsi Worrell, Louisville
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Carter, Olivia         JR Michigan          1:53.19    1:51.33   20  
    r:+0.66  25.13        53.60 (28.47)
        1:21.95 (28.35)     1:51.33 (29.38)
  2 Bray, Olivia           FR Texas             1:53.83    1:52.87   17  
    r:+0.67  24.72        53.08 (28.36)
        1:22.69 (29.61)     1:52.87 (30.18)
  3 Luther, Dakota         JR Georgia           1:53.43    1:53.01   16  
    r:+0.67  25.40        54.12 (28.72)
        1:23.27 (29.15)     1:53.01 (29.74)
  4 Pike, Taylor           SR TAMU              1:53.32    1:53.42   14.5
    r:+0.64  25.75        54.37 (28.62)
        1:23.77 (29.40)     1:53.42 (29.65)
  4 Pash, Kelly            SO Texas             1:53.38    1:53.42   14.5
    r:+0.70  24.91        53.29 (28.38)
        1:22.55 (29.26)     1:53.42 (30.87)
  6 Harter, Abby           FR Virginia          1:53.90    1:53.86   13  
    r:+0.73  25.17        53.90 (28.73)
        1:23.69 (29.79)     1:53.86 (30.17)
  7 Sticklen, Emma         FR Texas             1:53.56    1:54.09   12  
    r:+0.66  24.99        53.70 (28.71)
        1:23.74 (30.04)     1:54.09 (30.35)
  8 Gati, Izzy             JR Kentucky          1:53.86    1:54.35   11  
    r:+0.69  25.43        54.36 (28.93)
        1:23.81 (29.45)     1:54.35 (30.54)

=== Consolation Final ===                        
 
  9 Klinker, Rachel        SO California        1:54.20    1:53.19    9  
    r:+0.70  25.42        53.46 (28.04)
        1:22.50 (29.04)     1:53.19 (30.69)
 10 Kraus, Alena           JR Louisville        1:55.21    1:54.14    7  
    r:+0.68  25.51        54.13 (28.62)
        1:24.06 (29.93)     1:54.14 (30.08)
 11 Quah, Jing             SR TAMU              1:55.29    1:54.41    6  
    r:+0.61  25.43        54.21 (28.78)
        1:23.89 (29.68)     1:54.41 (30.52)
 12 Gillilan, Coleen       SO Notre Dame        1:53.94    1:54.78    5  
    r:+0.62  25.22        53.73 (28.51)
        1:23.48 (29.75)     1:54.78 (31.30)
 13 Hay, Abby              SO Louisville        1:55.60    1:55.19    4  
    r:+0.72  26.63        55.68 (29.05)
        1:25.13 (29.45)     1:55.19 (30.06)
 14 Ray, Amanda            FR Florida           1:55.12    1:55.30    3  
    r:+0.71  26.19        55.40 (29.21)
        1:25.05 (29.65)     1:55.30 (30.25)
 15 Albiero, Gabi          FR Louisville        1:55.38    1:56.30    2  
    r:+0.65  25.66        54.66 (29.00)
        1:25.03 (30.37)     1:56.30 (31.27)
 16 Harrington, Sydney     JR U.S. Navy         1:55.36    1:57.04    1  
    r:+0.67  25.47        54.25 (28.78)
        1:24.96 (30.71)     1:57.04 (32.08)

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 19                 
 
  1. Virginia                          457   2. NC State                          324
  3. Texas                           300.5   4. California                        258
  5. Alabama                           226   6. Michigan                        202.5
  7. Ohio St                         189.5   8. Georgia                           157
  9. Kentucky                          152  10. Stanford                          146
 11. UNC                               127  12. Tennessee                         125
 13. Texas A&M                       107.5  14. Louisville                         94
 15. Northwestern                       88  16. Florida                          84.5
 17. Missouri                           79  18. Indiana                            76
 19. Wisconsin                          59  20. Virginia Tech                      43
 21. Miami                              42  21. Southern California                42
 23. Minnesota                          40  24. Arkansas                           26
 25. Nebraska                           22  26. Arizona                          17.5
 27. Georgia Tech                       16  28. Purdue                             13
 29. Notre Dame                         12  30. Lsu                                 9
 30. Houston                             9  32. Fgcu                                6
 32. San Diego St                        6  34. Duke                                4
 35. Akron                               3  36. Oakland                             1
 36. U.S. Navy                           1

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